Talanoa dialogue brings faith communities together as COP28 opens
(LWI) - For five years running, Talanoa dialogue and interfaith services have been a hallmark of faith-based engagement at the United Nations climate summits. On 30 November, faith leaders gathered at Christ Church Jebel Ali in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to take stock of current progress, hopes and calls for action at this year’s iteration of the Conference of the Parties (COP).
The event took as its starting point a dialogue methodology originally from Fiji designed to cater for inclusive, participatory and transparent conversations, and brought together ecumenical and interfaith partners from Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, and Brahma Kumaris communities, young and old, lay and ordained – all convened by the Interfaith Liaison Committee to UNFCCC, and co-sponsored by a group of faith-based organizations including the Lutheran World Federation (LWF).
Held at Expo City in Dubai, COP28 is expected to bring together more than 70,000 people from around the globe for climate negotiations, where governments will be urged to accelerate ambition to address the global climate emergency.
As described by the COP presidency, the conference should both provide the first-ever "global stocktake" – a review of current climate commitments and how they are or are not helping the world meet the goals set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement – and agree on a clear roadmap for adopting measures to ensure that the goals can still be met within the required timeframe.